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When you bring a new baby home for the first time, there are a few areas where you will spend the majority of your time. One of those spaces is the diaper changing station.

Back when I was pregnant, I was actually discouraged from buying one of these. I think the individual giving me this advice had good intentions, but as an about-to-be first time mom, I wanted to be as prepared as possible!

Every mom will have her preferences on how she wants her diaper changing station set up. In this post, I’m going to share with you 10 must-have items so your baby’s diaper changes will be a breeze.

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1. The changing table

So, this may seem obvious, but you actually need a designated space where you’re going to change diapers. My little one has had more than her fair share of blowouts, and with a changing table, I always have everything within arms reach. Our area doubles as a dresser and changing table – kinda like this one. What I love about it is that there is plenty of room up top for the essentials, and once she outgrows it, she’ll still have it as a regular dresser.

If you’re real creative, you can re-purpose a dresser and set up a changing pad on top. If that’s up your alley (and you have time to do it before baby arrives), then you’ll need the next item on our list.

2. The changing pad

Well, duh – you gotta have this, too. 😉 If you don’t have a dresser like the one mentioned above, make sure you put a changing pad in a safe spot where you can secure your little one. Get a changing pad that has “grippers” on the bottom so it won’t slide around while baby is squirming. Here’s the one I use now.

3. Changing pad covers

I recommend you have two of these on hand – one to use, and one to spare when baby has a blowout (or when she sneaks in a extra pee pee before you’ve gotten a clean diaper on her). The ones I use have minky fabric edges, but there is a wipeable center section.

4. Diapers/wipes

I shouldn’t have to tell you that you’ll need these. They’re kinda the whole point of having a diaper changing station… 🙂

5. Wipe warmer

When I was pregnant, I actually received advice on these from both sides of the fence. “It’s not needed” or “Imagine if you had a cold wipe cleaning up your behind.” I actually went with the latter advice, and put one of these on my registry. In hindsight, I’ve loved it. It keeps all the wipes moist and warm, plus it has a tiny little nightlight on it, too – handy for middle of the night diaper changes when you don’t want to turn on all the lights.

6. Aquaphor

This stuff is like gold. Diaper rash helper, moisturizer, salve for cuts/rashes – you name it. When I was pregnant, I was planning to cloth diaper my little one. One of the rules is that you don’t want to use traditional diaper rash cream on cloth diapers because it will make them less absorbent. Aquaphor, on the other hand, was completely fine. In the past 14 months, I have used both disposable and cloth diapers, and have used Aquaphor like it was going out of style. Buy 2-3 bottles (one for the changing table, one for the diaper bag, and one to spare), and save a little with this coupon.

7. Lotion

I keep a bottle of this on her changing table, and rub her down after bath time every night. My recommendation is Johnson & Johnson’s Bedtime Lotion – it smells amazing! When you are snuggling your little one extra close before bedtime, you will love knowing that they are wrapped in such a calming scent.

Usually new moms get flooded with coupons for Johnson’s products, but just in case you need some, you can find them here.

8. Hairbrush

Right after I put on lotion after bath time, my little one’s hair gets a nice little brushing. She’s at the age now where she wants to start doing things by herself. Nothing is cuter than seeing her put her hairbrush up next to her head and watching her “brush” her hair. We actually have two brushes now because it’s just getting long and thick. Our first brush was this one (super soft bristles!!), and now, we’ve started using this one as well.

9. Nasal aspirator

This is the one thing that your baby will hate more than anything in this world. My little one did great with it for the first few months. Since then, it’s like pulling teeth to clean her nose out. The reason I keep it at the diaper changing station is because it’s easier to use it while she’s already laying down.

You’ll likely be sent home with one from the hospital that looks like this. You may also find that a Nose Frieda works a little better).

10. Hand sanitizer

Last but not least, you should have a bottle of hand sanitizer. No brainer all the way.

I never realized that wipe warmers existed until reading a few blog posts on them. Love your list here because you really do narrow it down to the essentials! And hand sanitzer… yes! Why didn’t I think of that before?!

What a great list of essentials for a changing table. At our house, the days of changing diapers seem so long ago. Passing your post along to my daughter who had a baby just a few months ago. I’m sure she’ll be really interested in the Aquaphor (especially with the coupon!)

I think you got the essentials spot on in this post. Although I would add a big tub of Vaseline for babies bottom. Oscar was allergic to everything except Vaseline, so we got through tonnes of that stuff! I’ve never heard of a wipe warmer either, but it definitely sounds like something I would want should we ever decide to have another 🙂

Reminds me of all the things I needed to think about when my daughter was growing up. I wanted so much for her. We had to deal with so much as well. She got sick in all kinds of different ways that we were not prepared for. Thankfully we were able to figure out a few of those things. But it was rough. Knowing what you need for that time is so important.

This is a great list of essentials for your diaper changing station. I would add to it a toy attached to the station to keep baby entertained and that he/she can’t throw to the floor 🙂 Oh how I miss baby diaper changing days…hmm… then again maybe not 🙂